Michigan State women's basketball upsets No. 4 Indiana in 83-78 victory
Michigan State women's basketball returned to Big Ten league play Thursday afternoon with a statement win on the season. Undefeated and No. 4-ranked Indiana came to the Breslin Center and left with a 12-1 record, falling 83-78 to the Spartans. The victory marks just the 11th time in program history the Spartan women have knocked off a top-five opponent.
MSU moves to 9-5 on the season with the victory and 1-2 in Big Ten play, moving up to No. 10 in the standings. IU drops to 2-1 in league play and is tied for fourth with Nebraska following the loss.
Four players finished in double figures for Michigan State, once again led by Kamaria McDaniel’s 24 points. The game marked her fourth 20-point performance of the season.
Matilda Elh and Taiyier Parks both finished with 18 points, while DeeDee Hagemann added 15. Strong shooting was a big part of the Spartans' win as the team shot 4-for-9 from 3-point range and 55.6% overall from the field.
Parks led MSU in rebounds (eight) and Hagemann led with helpers (eight assists) and steals (five).
Indiana’s Mackenzie Holmes led all scorers with 32 points, and posted a double-double with 12 rebounds.
While Indiana refused to go away, mounting a late comeback, the first quarter was the only point when the Hoosiers would hold a lead. The opening period saw the score tied or the lead change 12 times. Michigan State seized it back on a fast break jumper by Hagemann with 3:30 to go and IU never managed to recover a lead again. Turnovers were a big part of that struggle as the Hoosiers committed 21 total on the game. In the first quarter alone, Michigan State converted nine points off of six turnovers.
The second quarter saw the Spartans lead throughout despite being outscored by the Hoosiers in the period. MSU jumped out to its then largest lead of the game on a second chance shot by Ekh to make it 23-15 just one minute into the second stanza. Indiana clawed back and cut Michigan State's lead to just two three times, including a buzzer beating layup by Holmes to head into the locker room trailing 35-33.
The Hoosiers continued the momentum to open the second half, tying the game for the final time quickly on another Holmes layup not even 30 seconds into the third quarter. Michigan State recovered and held Indiana without a field goal again until the 5:22 mark while building its lead back up to seven prior to the IU basket.
The Spartans would hold the largest lead of the game by either team thanks to a pair of free throws by Hagemann with 3:53 remaining, pushing the margin to 11 with a 50-39 advantage. The Hoosiers fought back once again, and managed to cut the deficit to just six points, trailing 57-51 at the end of the third quarter.
Free-throw shooting proved vital in the final stanza as Indiana fought furiously to avoid the upset. The Hoosiers mounted a 7-1 run in the opening minutes to tie the game up for the first time since the opening minute of the second half. Just 16 seconds later, a layup by Parks gave Michigan State the lead back, up 62-60 with 7:22 remaining. But IU again tied the game just moments later. The Spartans then mounted a 7-0 run to retake the lead and never relinquished it again.
Indiana again tried to fight back and cut MSU's lead to just three points late in the game with only 26 seconds left. Resorting to fouling for the final minutes backfired for the Hoosiers, though, as the Spartans went 11-for-15 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.
Michigan State returns to the road for its next game, heading to Evanston, Illinois to take on the Northwestern Wildcats. NU is 6-6 overall and 0-2 in Big Ten play. The game is scheduled for an 8 p.m. Eastern Time tipoff and can be streamed on B1G+.